Kampala city leads with the highest daytime population in the recently concluded National Population and Housing Census (NPHC 2024).
The daytime population in the cities stood at 4.2 million persons, with the highest share in Kampala Capital City (42.8%), and the lowest daytime population was recorded in Soroti City (3.2%).
The daytime population of Kampala city continues to grow, totaling 2.5 million, whereas other cities such as Arua (440,540), Mbale (371,626), and Jinja (363,134) are also growing at a high rate.
The NPHC 2024 report further indicated that Uganda’s population density as of 2024 was 224 persons per square kilometer, an increase from 123 people and 173 people per square kilometer in 2002 and 2014, respectively.
The rapid population growth mostly in urban centers is a result of urban immigration, mostly the youth in the age bracket of 16-35 as a result of green pastures and service delivery. Which has put a lot of pressure on the housing, water, and transport infrastructure in the city.
However, according to the National Population and Housing Census 2024 report, the population growth rate dropped slightly from 3.0 percent in 2014.
Experts have attributed the deterioration in population growth to the contraceptive prevalence rate, family planning, total fertility rate, universal primary education, universal secondary education, and the prevailing peace under the ruling National Resistance movement under the wise leadership of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.